Helping Hands drive kicks off as more local families look for help

The Enterprise’s annual Helping Hands Fund drive is kicking off this week. Local charities are reporing that the need is greater than ever this year as many local families are looking for help.

By Justin Graeber

The Enterprise, Brockton, MA

By Justin Graeber

Posted Nov. 25, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 25, 2012 at 12:21 AM

By Justin Graeber

Posted Nov. 25, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 25, 2012 at 12:21 AM

BROCKTON

» Social News

A woman wrote this in a letter to the Easton-based charity My Brother’s Keeper:

“All everyone wants is to give their family a wonderful holiday. I want to give my kids the same thing, but I need a little help.”

What for most is a season of joy can be a season of anguish for those struggling to make ends meet.

“For families that we serve, this is the most anxiety-filled time of year,” said My Brother’s Keeper’s Erich Miller.

Many charities around the region say they’re seeing an increase in need this year.

To help meet some of that need, The Enterprise is launching its annual Helping Hands Fund drive. Through New Year’s Day, the fund will raise money and distribute it to worthy local charities through grants. (The fund does not give directly to individuals.)

Last year, the fund disbursed more than $60,000 to charities around the region.

Miller said he’s seeing more requests this year from working families.

“I think there can sometimes be a misperception that people who ask for help are not working,” he said. “Many people are working but given how expensive this part of the country is, they’re just barely getting by.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul gave out 174 Thanksgiving dinners in 2011. This year, they had more than 190 requests for help with the holiday meal.

“There were a lot of new names,” said Stephen Cavanaugh, of the society’s The Christ the King conference in Brockton. Rising food prices are having an effect.

Cavanaugh’s organization has an annual budget of about $15,000, and about 20 percent of it this year is being spent on food. That number used to be zero, because the society could get what it needed from the Greater Boston Food Bank and donations.

“Everyone is seeing the same issues,” Cavanaugh said. “It impacts what we can do in other areas,” such as utilities, clothing and rent.

Michaeline Saladyga from Our Daily Bread soup kitchen in Taunton said she’s also seeing more hungry people at her place.

“We’re finding more families that are in need of food,” she said.

Our Daily Bread serves an average of 150 people a day, and Saladyga said during this time of year, many people have to cut back on their meager food budget to pay heating bills.

Dennis Carman of the United Way of Greater Plymouth County said his organization is also seeing an increase in calls for help.

“We’re getting calls each day,” he said.

In addition to the people who call the Plymouth chapter directly, the organization pays into a statewide 211 system. Last year, 6,000 calls came into that line from Plymouth County. This year, they’ve already received 7,500 calls.

Page 2 of 2 - “What many people are looking for is help with housing costs,” Carman said, including rent, mortgage and utility bills.

Cavanaugh said in years past people who were helped by St. Vincent dePaul in the past would give back to others in need. Now, the opposite is true.

“We’re seeing people who used to help us, call in for help,” he said. “The need never shrinks.

The annual Jingle Bell Run in Brockton, which is on Dec. 8, raises money for the Helping Hands Fund, but for the most part, the fund relies on donations from readers like you.